News

Palo Alto faced with another green debate

By Jason Green

Daily News Staff Writer

Posted:
04/05/2013 10:51:14 PM PDT

Updated:
04/06/2013 12:09:39 AM PDT

Environmentalists in Palo Alto are already at war over the prospect of building a composting facility in the Baylands. Now a new issue is threatening to further fracture the city's green-leaning populace.

The city council debated for more than an hour Monday whether to spend nearly $193,915 to complete an environmental analysis of an expansion of the city's recycled water delivery system to the Stanford Research Park.

But with three of its nine members absent and votes lacking to approve the contract, the city council pushed the item to its April 8 meeting. But the decision likely won't be any easier with a full contingent.

On one side, council members Larry Klein and Gail Price are convinced that the city has no other choice than to expand its use of reclaimed water.

"If our population continues to increase and if the predictions of the effects of global warming are correct," Klein argued Monday, "we are going to have water shortage sooner or later and it will be a permanent water shortage."

Klein, who serves on the Bay Area Water Supply and Conservation Agency's board of directors, said that it doesn't make sense to use highly rated Hetch Hetchy water to keep lawns green.

Reclaimed water is already used to irrigate the city's municipal golf course and other facilities.

But Mayor Greg Scharff and Council Member Karen Holman say there are too many unanswered questions about reclaimed water, including its impacts on the environment and whether the city can force its use in the Stanford Research Park, where some officials have expressed opposition.

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"I think putting salt into the earth and destroying its fertility, I would call it poisoning the earth," said Scharff, who attributed the deaths of more than a dozen trees at Greer Park to the use of reclaimed water.

Phil Bobel, the city's assistant director of Public Works, said the city's reclaimed water is on par with others around the state. The concentration of salt is about 850 parts per million, or ppm, which is down from 1,100 two decades ago when the city started using reclaimed water.

"Water of our salinity is being used extensively in the arid west," Bobel said. "We're not running some kind of science experiment here."

Scharff countered that he was dismayed the concentration wasn't closer to 600 ppm, the goal set by the city council in 2010. Bobel said he believes it's still attainable but will take a while to reach.

"I'm not sure why we'd want to build this project until we're ready to be below 600 or be at 600," Scharff said. "If we're not going to get there in the near future, why should we spend the money and be evaluating this?"

The environmental analysis would potentially pave the way for an extension of the city's existing recycled water delivery system into the Stanford Research Park, which is known for its lush landscaping. Provided the contract is approved, city staff would return to the city council in about a year with the results.

"All we're doing is studying," Klein said.

Council members Marc Berman and Liz Kniss, meanwhile, have positioned themselves as potential swing votes. Although they indicated support Monday for finishing the environmental analysis, they weren't entirely sold on the concept.

"I'm right in the middle, but I want to see more information," Berman said.

Vice Mayor Nancy Shepherd, along with council members Pat Burt and Greg Schmid, was absent Monday.

The contract with RMC Water and Environment Inc. needs the support of at least five council members.

City Manager James Keene predicted that the reclaimed water debate won't be the last environmental issue to split the city council and its constituents.

"Green-on-green issues are going to accelerate over the rest of this century," he said. "It's going to be harder and harder."

WHAT: The city council will consider whether to approve a contract to complete an environmental analysis of an expanded recycled water project to serve the Stanford Research Park. WHEN: Monday at 6 p.m. WHERE: Council Chambers, City Hall, 250 Hamilton Ave., Palo Alto